PETALING JAYA: Higher education institutions outside the enhanced movement control order areas have begun sending students home while institutions located in the enhanced MCO areas are taking care of their students still stuck on campus.
Universiti Sains Malaysia vice-chancellor (Student and Alumni Development) Prof Dr Aldrin Abdullah said they had mobilised 10 of their own buses together with other chartered buses to send their 2, 500 students home from the main campus in Penang.
“There are also stringent standard operating procedures in place to protect our students, including sanitising the buses regularly and enforcing the wearing of masks, ” he said in an interview yesterday.
Private education sector in dire straits Pix for illustration purposes/BERNAMA
PETALING JAYA
: The Covid-19 pandemic is threatening to close the book on private education.
Enrolment is plunging as students, both locals and foreigners, leave in droves, forcing some universities and colleges to throw in the towel, while others are barely staying afloat.
As a result, a large proportion of the private education sector’s RM40 billion annual contribution to the nation’s gross domestic product has been wiped out. For operators of private higher education institutions (PHEI), the situation is dire.
As of March this year, Malaysia had 435 PHEI, comprising 335 colleges, 39 university colleges, 51 universities and 10 branch campuses of foreign varsities.
We’re coming home: UPM students Nurul Natasha Mohamad (left) and her roommate Nur Arsya Mohd Shamsuri packing up their belongings before returning to their hometown for Hari Raya. AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Universities around the country are putting measures in place to ensure their students get home in time for Hari Raya next week.
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) deputy vice-chancellor (student affairs and alumni) Prof Dr Arifin Abdu said UPM has arranged for more than 20 buses to take 1,400 students back to their hometowns or to the airport.
“This is to accommodate students whose parents are unable to get them from campus and do not have their own transport, ” he added.